Of Course
by Valexian rose
Summary: I'm winging it here, but Tris is 18 and is dragged to a party by her best friend and roommate Christina who is determined to get Tris a love life, she, however is stubborn and stuck in her own quiet world not really interested in love, but what happens when Christina actually played cupid and did it?
1. Chapter 1

I won't lie, being nice, sucks. Like, no matter what I do to prevent it, I'm always ending up sympathetic or insanely stubborn about the lightest things. But back to being nice, and how it sucks majorly, I'm currently being dragged against my will through a mall, to Burlington Coat Factory and Forever 21 by my best friend Cristina. Who, I have known since elementary school, who I also recently let move in with me, who happens to have the weirdest fetish for shoes and who also happened to 'accidentally' invite me to the annual Pedrad party. A party that is supposed to be The party, with a capital 't' because it deserves such credit for keeping me up one night every year till 4 in the morning. Which would be why she's tossing every dress my size over her shoulder and at my face, and everyone else at the store is giving us weird looks. I sigh and whine "Christinaaaaa,"

"Triiiiis," She whines back in a mocking tone,

"I don't wanna go to the party," She stops and looks at me with her eyebrows raised and her lips pressed in a thin line. Well it was worth a try. I sigh and look through the dresses in my arms while she runs to the shoes ilse, I see a dark violet color that feels like satin and cotton, sooo soft. I walk to the place to try it on and tell her to put the others back, and I change. I put it on and look in the mirror and gasp quietly, it's a v-neck, violet floor length dress that fades darker towards my feet, with straps that cross against my back. It's beautiful, I stare wide eyed at my reflection, it's loose, but it still hugs my waist and chest, and it makes my stormy grey eyes look blue.

I hear a knock and turn to the door, "Tris, it's Christina, can you let me in?" I open the door for her, not changing because I know she'll want to see it. Her eyes light up as soon as she see's me, "Oh Tris! You look beautiful!" and she engulfs me in a tight hug, I pat her back twice and she lets go of me and looks at every fold in the dress. "Get on your toes for me?" I do and her eyebrows scrunch up, "What?" I ask, getting back down,

"It's too long,"

"What?" I ask again, she steps towards me and takes a handful of the fabric at my mid thigh, pulling it up to my hip, making the cloth at the bottom come up just below my ankles. "Oh you've got to be kidding, I actually like this one," I complain, Christina studies me again before leaving saying "Keep the dress on," I do as I'm told and play with my dirty blonde hair. She comes back in record time with black leather gladiator heels, about four inches. I give her a look and she flashes a smile at me, "I'd rather buy you shoes then sew your dress, it's beautiful and I don't want to ruin it," she confesses and I sigh but smile while putting them on. I've always been short, but these make me look about 5'9" which isn't half bad. Christina eyes me and smiles, "About an Inch to spare, it works," I smile at her and motion for her to close the door so I can undress, literally, and I come out a minute or so later. We buy the dress and the shoes for me and a white cowl neck dress that goes down a little past her knees and some white T-strap wedge heels.

We walk out and she glances at me as her stomach makes an ungodly noise. I laugh at her and she blushes "Could we please stop to eat?" she asks sheepishly, I regain composure and nod at her. We end up agreeing on Wendy's and we ate in the center square at a table next to the fountain. "So, Tris," she says before taking a sip from her coke, I look up at her from my now empty wrapper and clean my hands. "You think you're going to meet someone at the party?" I laugh at her, "C'mon, has to have at least past your mind once,"

I shake my head, "Honest, I haven't thought about it,"

"Tris, you're young, and pretty, you, need, a, boyfriend." I give her this weird look and say, "Christina, you're not one to talk," she scoffs at me, "When you find a boyfriend of your own that treats you good, then you can worry about me," I smile and she pouts then gives me the stare down of a life time.

"Fine," I sigh of relief, "But!" She adds quickly and I look at her with pleading eyes, "You have to at least get laid tomorrow night." I stare at her before scoffing, only making her laugh. "But Cristinaaaa," I whine,

"No but's missy, as your best friend and your roommate, I am setting you up with a guy so you can finally get your kinky on, and get all down and dirty in the guest bedroom-"

"Oh, ew, gross, oh my God, Christina stop talking!" I shout and she grins at me, laughing.


	2. Chapter 2

We got home after about an hour, and currently Christina is crashing on our couch. Poor thing, must be exhausted. And yes! Guys who don't know our pain, shopping is tiring! Seriously, you get muscles from that heavy lifting, clothes are heavy! Guys if you want your girl to be impressed and even more in love with you, do laundry! You'll get beefy in no time plus you're doing chores. But, back to our small little two bedroom apartment. I'm putting my clothes away in my room playing Young Volcanoes by Fall Out Boy and dancing with my clothes. (yes I know I'm ridiculous) Picking up my room and screwing around with my make up and the mirror in the bathroom. I decide that Christina needs a blast of color in her life, so I change her shampoo with my hair dye and mix the conditioner. I smile to myself and grab my earbuds, moving to the kitchen and checking the time, 6:45. The girls should be over in a few, meaning I should probably wake up Chrissy.

I smile and start up dinner, a few minutes into it I see her stir and I smile. Grabbing three ice cubes and quickly putting two in her bra. She squeals and jumps up "Tris!?" I laugh and slide the other one in her pants, she screams again and runs to her room shouting "Cold!" I laugh harder and hold my stomach, I giggle and walk back into the kitchen, checking the pasta. No I am not the greatest cook, plus I'm tired.

Someone knocks on the door as soon as I turn off the burner, I pause my music and open the door. The girls are standing there, all smiling at me. "Tris. Heeeeey," Lauren says in a preppy voice, I laugh lightly and wave them all in, Shauna sniffs the air and looks at me, "Smells good Tris, spaghetti?"

"Yeah, Christina took me shopping-"

"The Pedrad party right?" Marlene asks,

"Yeah," I say slowly,

"Omg! We're going too!" Lauren squeals,

"All of you?" I point between the four of them, they all nod

"Yeah, but speaking of Chrissy, where is she?" Molly asks as I walk over to the cupboard and grab a stack of plates, "Dunno-"

"Beatrice Elizabeth Prior you are SO dead!" Christina screams, I can't help but smile at the girls, who all give me a what-did-you-do look. Christina storms into the kitchen in nothing but a towel with the water steaming up off of her, she's pointing to her hair and glaring at me with more fury than what I thought was physically possible. Her hair, apparently the problem, is bleach blonde and gold. "Oh goodness Christina," I say in shock, putting a hand over my mouth, she crumples to the stool at the bar and puts her face in her hands. "Does it really look that bad?" she dares to ask, looking at us, the girls look at her, then me and back again, ugh, fine. I clear my throat and smile, "It's not, don't worry,"

"Yeah! You can totally rock blonde and white with that pretty white cowl dress you got and some gold eyeshadow, sparkles can fix everything." Lauren says matter-of-factly, thank God for more than one fashionista friend. She still pouts but looks a lot better from that statement, "Really?" She asks quietly. We all give an encouraging nod and smile, then she looks at me while holding some hair in front of her so she can see it, "Please tell me it's not permanent,"

"It's not, don't worry, you'll be fine It'll wear out in a few days," I smile, "You hungry?" She looks like she's going to cry, "No, I just, want to figure this out-" and her signature stomach growl echoes through the rooms, the girls and I laugh and I say in a mushy tone "Aww c'mon, I made your favorite?" I pucker my lips and hold up a plate of noodles and meatballs, "No Tris. Really, what if I can't meet a guy 'cause my hair's screwed up?" Molly helps herself to food and Lauren runs to Chrissy's room coming back with all of her makeup, and that's a lot. Dumping it on the floor and going through it all. I sigh and raise my eyebrows at my best friend, "Really Christina? I didn't think you were the type to get serious," She frowns at me and Marlene laughs, "Oh wait, you meant getting down and dirty in the guest bedroom," Her jaw drops at me and Shauna covers her mouth stifling a laugh. "Well honey I got news for you, if you wanna 'meet a guy' then you can start meeting these beautiful meatballs and spaghetti that I spent an hour on,"

"Tris!" She gasps and stares at me,

"Hey at least I didn't say get your slurp on, God." I roll my eyes and set the plate in front of her. "Tris!" She yells again, but she's smiling, and of course Molly is the awesomest friend ever and makes a slurping noise as she sucks noodles in her mouth. We all start laughing. Eventually everyone starts eating around 7:30 and finish close to 8. Apparently, someone and I won't say who, invited the girls to spend the night with us, so they all left to Shaunas 918 Porsche to get their things. I sigh and flop on the couch as Christina walks over in her boy shorts and oversized blue t. With a finished shower, all was forgiven after she felt pretty again. I smiled at her as she grabbed the T.V. remote, and flipped to Pretty Little Liars, honestly I could care less about the show, but Christinas in love with it. So I put up with her all day marathons whenever it happens and run her errands, get her chips and stuff and so on. Her marathon day is her lazy day, she'd be working now if I hadn't bargained with her boss about a few days off because she moved in with me.

Currently she's attending Bartending School, and I'm happy for her, but to earn the money to pay for it she's a waitress and chaperone for a nice restaurant called D.I.A. it's very popular and always busy. I've read her reviews, she's very good, and devoted to her work. She just need's some time off, and her boss wasn't as awful as people say so, score! And the outcome of my niceness is being dragged to a party with her. The girls all come back in and I tell them I'm headed to the shower, checking for the right shampoo and conditioner I get in and take a cold one, washing my hair and the like. Thinking about our families that we left to grow up so fast in our own world, I miss my mom and brother, and I know Cristina misses her parents and her little sisters, she just never admits it. She decided to move in with me, as soon as highschool ended, being on your own at 18 isn't easy, and I warned her, but she seems fixed on sticking with me, even if it means cutting yourself from any help from your parents. We still talk to them, every once in a while, but even that's not enough for all of us.

I get out and dry off, getting changed into my fuzzy pants and white t-shirt. I put my hair into a messy bun and walk out the the girls, who are all hustled around in the living room giggling and watching T.V. making little comments about what happens or what's going to happen next. I smile and sit on the couch catching Laurens eye, she gets up and takes my wrist, guiding me to the kitchen. She stops and looks at me, like, really looks at me. Then she hugs me tightly, I hug back and she says "I missed you Tris,"

"I missed you too Lauren, all of you girls," I say, pulling away from her, taking her in. She got her eyebrow pierced, her eyes still a mix of green and hazel, with her long dark wavy hair. She was still pretty, and still taller than me. "Tris, I hate to ask, but could you help me?"

"Yeah sure, with what?"

"My color scheme,"

"Well show me your dress and we can get down to it," She nods and grabs something golden in a bag out of her duffle, and I take her to my room. She throws on the golden thing and I gasp. It's floor length and a ruffled sheath dress that hugged her curves perfectly, it was laced with small pearls at the lining at the top leaning off as a sleeve that turned into fine lace to her hand. "Oh you look amazing Lauren," She smiled and blushed, looking down,

"Now what colors?" I eyed her for a moment,

"Green and some gold, smudged, and a cat eye with black." She smiled at me,

"Yeah I can do that," she takes it off and hugs me, then we walk back to the living room to see everyone already passed out. It's almost midnight, so I don't blame them for slipping into food-comas. I claim the couch and Lauren tosses a few pillows around before settling in her little nest thing. I smile and drift to sleep.

**You like? :3**


	3. Chapter 3

Christina put a to-go cup of coffee in front of my face, warning, I am not a morning person. Sadly all of my other friends are morning people, and I hate them all for it. "Tris," I open my eyes drowsily to see Shauna snapping her fingers at me. I groan and cover my face rolling into the couch. "Lauren!" I groan again louder,

"Shauna! Shut up!" I yell muffled into the sofa, seconds later the blanket is ripped from under me and I tumble to the floor. The girls all started laughing and of course I joined in too, they're all contagious. Lauren folded the blanket and Chris helped me up, Molly and Marlene are in the kitchen making sticky buns so I get up and notice Christina staring at me. "What?"

"Your hair," she says wide eyed.

"My hair? Chrissy, why-" Shaunas hand flys over my mouth. I smile and walk away to the kitchen Molly smiles at me and sets a plate of sticky sweet yummyness in front of me. "Thank you girls," I say before scarfing everything down, the girls all giving me weird looks.

"What?" I ask after swallowing,

"Tris, manners?" I frown at her and how delicately she holds the fork, I scoff and shove half a bun in my mouth. I'm done and washing dishes when Lauren comes trotting in saying "So, while you were all sleeping I went out for a run and guess what?"

"You broke a nail?" Molly joked.

"No actually, we have new neighbors." I dried my hands and crossed my arms at her,

"And?" I say.

"Wanna put some clothes on so we can meet them?" Lauren proposes.

"The only reason you'd say that is if they're boys," Shauna buts in, coming back and putting on a shirt. Marlene smiled and laughed, "Oh please, I thought the only boy you'd ever have in your mind was Peirse."

"The blonde kid?" I ask,

"Yeah with the dark eyes," Molly chimes,

"I told you I'm not into him anymore, God," Shauna rolled her eyes,

"You mean after he got with Jessy?" Christina teased, Shauna turned bright red, oh right, Chrissy told me that Shauna walked in on them at her birthday party. Ouch. "Okay, girls, lets just get dressed and we can meet the guys next door," I say. They all nod and I change into black skinny jeans and a grey long sleeved crop top, I brush my hair and wash my face, putting my hair back into a messy bun and slipping on blue all stars. I grab my keys and walk to the door, with everyone following my lead. "Lauren, lead the way," I say as I lock the door, she walks down the stairs we follow her for about a block before we all see the moving truck. A group of guys standing in front of the door to the apartment block.

We got closer and the five of them stopped drinking their beers and talking, they were looking at us. I felt my face get hot, I knew this was going to happen. There was a tall blonde boy with messy hair and bright celery green eyes, like the inside of a cucumber. Two boys who looked similar, they both had darker skin and short dark hair, darker eyes, but one had eyes close to Marlenes, like dark honey. Then there was another blonde, but his hair was slight slicked back and spiked, he had piercings along his eyebrows and two in his lip. His eyes cold and an icy steel color, but the last boy caught my eye. He was tall dark messy hair tan-ish skin, dark blue eyes. He was sharp and visibly tense.

Lauren smiles and urges us on, "Hey, my names Lauren, and these are my friends," She smiles and gestures to us all, I can't help but cross my arms, noticing what I'm wearing. "This is Molly, Shauna, Marlene, Christina, and Tris," she says pointing to all of us,

"Tris, really? Fuck you all must be the strippers Zeke was telling us about," The slick blonde says,

"Hey shut up Eric," one of the dark skinned boys scolds,

"Sorry Zeke," Eric laughs and puts his hands up, I scoff. Asshole.

"What did you say little girl?"

"Hmm?" I say blinking and raising my eyebrows,

"What did you call me?" He growled, stepping toward me I tilt my shoulders back a bit. So I said it out loud, I have a bad habit of that. Why the hell not? "I called you an asshole," I say smiling,

"Okay," Lauren says, stepping between us, "Tris, Eric, calm down, we didn't come here to pick a fight," I stared him down, a small smile playing on my lips as Eric backs off and walks back to his little group. Zeke rolled his eyes as Eric slammed the door behind him. He sighed "Sorry about him, just got dumped before we moved…" The girls nodded, I looked down.

"So you gonna introduce us?" Marlene asked.

"Oh right," Zeke shook his head and pointed to everyone as he spoke, "I'm uh Ezekiel as you know, this is my brother Uriah, my buddy from school William, Eric, and Four," so they're brothers, that makes sense. "So Christina and I are your actual neighbors," I say, "So who moved?"

"All of us, actually?"

"So, what are you all some sort of boy band?" I ask rather rudely, the guys all stare at me, "What, did I nail it?"

"Uh, sorta," Uriah rubs the back of his neck,

"Sorta?"

"Well Zeke and I moved here 'cause of school, and Four and Will came along because it was convenient for them too," school buddies huh?

"And Eric?" Molly asks,

"Work," Four says bluntly,

"What does he do for a living?" Lauren prods,

"What is this, an interview?" Four growls, I glance at him. He's looking at us disapprovingly, I would normally back down from a jerk like him, but with Eric already making fun of the name my mother gave me, I don't feel like putting up with much. "Excuse me, Four was it?" I start walking towards him, my fists at my sides. He smirks "Yeah, Tris."

"Well then, I don't think it's fair that just about everyone in your little swaré, is being an uptight teenage douche bag, and I'm just about sick and tired of being treated like I'm some sort of contagion that spreads through the air and infects the lungs of young children. Even out of my good charity I came down here from a busy schedule because my friend said there were some nice guys moving in just down the block. Honestly Four I could be shoving sticky buns down my mouth, made by my girlfriends and getting ready for a party that Christina just magically thought that, if I attend, that my love life and the world would be fixed. So I really don't feel like putting up with the bull that you're giving me." I say that full of heart, because I am done, It isn't until Christina clears her throat that I realize that I'm inches from Fours face and everyone is staring.


	4. Chapter 4

"Maybe, it's because you're too stupid to actually hold your temper in. So you come down and pick a fight with whoever you can, acting all innocent when your just a slut."

"How dare you? You don't know the first thing about me!"

"And I wouldn't imagine ever wanting to," I felt my eyes widen,

I stumble a step or two away from him, oh shit, I just lost it. Four looked just as shocked as I am. I mutter an apology and jog back to my room. I hear Christina is the one to break the daze as always and she calls after me. She catches me before I could actually enter the flat. She touches my shoulder and I turn to look at her, tears brimming my eyes. "Oh Tris," she says and engulfs me in a hug. You may be wondering why I'm crying apart from the whole Four thing, it's because all of my life I've been shut down and I never said anything against it. In fact I prefer not to talk all together, unless I know the person. But now that I'm 18 and trying to live my life and be nice to someone, a guy no less, my friends and I are called sluts and we get scolded for trying to learn about potential friends. I've never lost my temper, I don't know exactly what happened to get me like that, maybe it was the back to back blows. Normally people just pick you apart slowly, meaning a day or two for recovery, and then they come back just when you think you can put it behind you. Why I chose to explode on someone, a guy, a very cute guy who also happens to be my new neighbor, I have no clue. One thing's clear through this, if I go back, I'm going to get beaten senseless. "I'm sorry Chrissy," I mumble into her shirt.

"Don't apologise Bea," I laugh a little at her old name for me,

"Why not? You and that Will guy sure seemed to click, you both kept staring, I went and screwed it up,"

"Tris he was probably staring at my hair and wondering," then she tries to mimic his deepish voice "What the hell happened? Oh I should keep staring to make it apparent these chicks are weird," I don't know why, but I can't help but laugh until I'm holding my stomach and her forearm for balance so I don't break my ass when I fall. She smiles and starts laughing with me. "C'mon, lets go back Tris,"

"Ok," I nod after calming down, but it doesn't help the small smile that plays on my face. She leads me back to the group, Four still seems a bit shaken, but everyone else is laughing and sharing clicks with their new beers. Even Eric came out and is chatting up a storm with Lauren. Christina smiles and out of everyone here, takes me back to Four. I give her this look and swing my finger between him and I saying "This, Chrissy, is why I don't have a boyfriend," she smirks and raises her eyebrows,

"Oh really?"

"Yep,"

"I thought it was because you had me your awesome bestie who you decided would be fun to bleach the hair that was on her head, but, what do I know?" I grin at her when I hear what she says next, "Besides I thought you didn't like men, considering you haven't had one as a friend for what, like, forever, wait," her eyes widen and she puts a hand on her chest, "Tris, are you a lesbian?" I laugh at her and she laughs too,

"In your dreams Christina," I love my bestfriend. Gosh shes awesome.

"Well it would explain a lot Tris," Molly buts in,

"Yeah, like how you eat like a boy," Shauna adds,

"Or how you're always the boss of the house," Marlene says,

"It would also explain some posters in your room," Lauren says quietly,

"Lauren!" I yell she grins at me, "I'm not girls, God, can't I just have some of my brothers habits?"

"Yeah but your brother roots for the other team," Chrissy says like she owns the place. I point a finger at her and say deadpan "You, missy, have caused enough trouble today, so shut your face, or your hair won't be the only thing that gets a makeover."

"Oh Trissy you wouldn't dare," Christina says eyes full of fear and rage.

"Oh I would," I notice everyone is watching us like a ping pong battle, I smile at her and she rolls her eyes but fails at hiding a smirk. "So," Zeke says to me suddenly, "I heard you say party in your rant to Four,"

"Oh yeah, um, the annual Pedrad party, they host it every year and it's supposed to be wicked cool, of course I've never actually gone to one before..." I say trailing off as I see all the boys staring at me, "What?" I ask.

"What?" Uriah asks, he looks like I just slapped him,

"Uh, Tris?" Will says, "Uriah and Zeke are the Pedrad brothers," It takes a second for this to click, and I feel my jaw drop slightly, "Oh," is all I can come up with. God I'm stupid, wait a sec. "So, all of you are going?" I point to them and Four growls,

"Sorry to disappoint, but yeah," I send a glare his way, but he doesn't glare back, he just holds out an unopened beer to me. I shake my head and put my hands up "I don't drink," but the girls apparently do, "So how old are all of you?" I ask,

"Eric, Zeke, and I are all 20, Will and Uriah 18, but Wills turning 19 soon,"

"You're all underage," I say and Four hands me the beer, tapping on the side 'Non-Alcoholic' "Smart," I say, Four shrugs, "Why are you being nice to me now?"

"I'm not," he doesn't look at me, I shake my head and announce "It was nice meeting you all, but I'm going back to my room," Chris gives me a look and I shake my head, making my way back. I pop in my earbuds and 'So Easy by Phillip Phillips' comes on. Darn it world, I yell "I don't want a boyfriend!" at my door before unlocking it. My neighbor opened her door and gave me a weird look. I laughed a bit before closing the door behind me.

**AN: I know I hardly do these and this chapter kinda sucks, but I am suffering with writers block and will not post tomorrow, because I have soccer with my friend on most sundays and I work most wednesdays. But! I promise as soon as I have a weird epiphany while doing something I'll run to my computer and start typing, but until then, sorry for the late updates. :3**


	5. Chapter 5

About an hour later the girls come walking in laughing. Nice to know they had fun, I shut my laptop and hop off of the kitchen counter, walking towards them. None of them notice me standing there and continue talking. "Hello?" I say, they laugh at something Lauren says and I try to listen, "So all of us are even right? I take Four, Molly with Eric, Shauna, you'll go with Zeke, and Malene you're with Uri, and that'll leave Christina with Will,"

"Wait, what about me?" I ask her, she doesn't even look at me. Lauren smiles at them and says "Lets get ready girls!" I follow all of them to my room and Lauren opens the door, with a red liquid stain on the carpet seeping through from the other side. She opens the door and my body, _my_ body, is on the ground with a lifeless gleam in its eyes and a deep red gash across its neck. Lauren steps over it, strutting around my room in her cherry red stilettos smiling and saying "Christina, thank you so much for letting me move in with you."

I jolt up and pant, cold sweat and shivers going down my spine swinging my feet over to the floor in case I need to bolt for the bathroom. I cant help but stare at my feet, flashes of what happened going through my mind. Christina walks in as I'm rubbing my eyes and says "Oh, good you're up, we leave in two hours, so take a shower and get ready," I glance at her and see shes just walking around in her underclothes. "Chrissy, what time is it?"

"Eight, you slept forever, you know Lauren tried waking you up."

"Yeaahh…" I dragged out while getting off the couch.

"You okay Tris?" I nod, and make my way to the shower, grabbing my towel along the way. After I'm done I walk back to my room, dreading what I'll see. I open the door and see Lauren doing her nails on the floor where my body was. I shiver and walk to my closet, "Heeeyyy Triiss," Lauren says with the biggest smile on her face, oh no.

"Yes?" I ask cautiously and pick out a black set of underclothes.

"Can you help me with something?"

"What is it?" I slip on the clothes while she blows on her newly pearl white nails.

"I need a date for tonight,"

"I thought it was a girls night out?" I give her a confused look and dry my hair one more time.

"Well, it was, but with the guys next door…"

"They're hosting the party," I say with a smirk, I turn on the radio with my computer.

"Yeah I know that, but, you didn't really click with anyone there, and well…"

"Which guy?" I smile and she blushes,

"Four," she mumbles, of course,

"And what do you need help with? You're pretty Lauren, you don't need my help,"

"How do I ask him?" I raise my eyebrows at her and feel the corner of my mouth curve up, "Ask him, just do it, when you're all dressed and flashy, he won't say no to you, unless he's a jerk, then I don't know," Lauren smiled at me and nodded,

"Thank you,"

"Yeah, now if you were asking for a booty girl ask Christina," Lauren laughs at me and blow dries my hair as we joke about high school and catch up on family. Her dad was doing well but she hadn't heard from her mom in a while. Her little brother was starting high school soon, and she just got a job as a makeup artist for models. Lauren was having a steady climb into life, it was easy for most of us. But our conversation drifted to the girls and light snooping that we've all done on each other, all the rumors and why they became rumors. All the good stuff, before we all go to college. When she was done Molly walked in as if on cue and said "Good you're both done, Tris there's someone here to see you,"

"Who is it?" I ask,

"They're in the living room," I nod and slip out of the chair. Walking to the living room I hear laughing and when I round the corner I see two tall guys. One with dirty blonde hair and the other with dark brown. One turns to me and I'm met with dark sparkling green eyes and a perfect boyish grin, his sharp face, and pointed nose. "Hey Tris," he says in his low friendly voice.

"Jacey what the hell are you doing here?" I ask. The blonde turns around and I meet the familiar face of my brother, with his stormy green eyes and all. "Beatrice!" He engulfs me in a tight hug, "Heyy Caleb," I smile, "What are you doing here?"

"I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Jason," He says pulling away from me, I don't fight the smile that finds my face "I knew it," is all I say, Jace has had a thing for my brother for as long as I've known him. Jason smiles at me and says "You look stunning, am I missing something?"

"We're all going to a party in about," Christina says and checks the time "Ten minutes,"

"Right," I say sadly and turn to Caleb, "Where are you staying?"

"The Five high hotel, for a few days at least," he says.

"Okay, you want to get breakfast tomorrow?"

"How about brunch so we can actually catch up?" Jason suggests, "Theres no way you're gonna be all bright and stunning tomorrow morning," I laugh at him, he knows first hand how bad I get in the morning. "Yeah Tris, we're gonna have some drinks tonight anyway, so might as well take it up," Molly says. She's wearing a black maxxi dress with pink cross straps against her back. I nod and say "Sounds like a plan, I'll see you both tomorrow at 10 a.m. sharp at room…"

"426," Caleb fills in, "Fourth floor,"

"Okay," I say with a smile and hug them both, then they leave and I put on my heels and grab a black sweat shirt. I glance at the girls and see Shauna in an all black strapless dress that has a cut from her upper thigh to the floor, and Marlene in a blue cocktail dress. We all get into Laurens s60 volvo and drive for a couple of minutes before the car starts to tremble in a beat. I'm guessing we're close cause Lauren starts cursing about parking and how people suck. She scoffs and pulls into the driveway saying "We're here," I look out the window and see a mansion with flashing lights inside and music blasting whenever someone opens the front door. "They used to _live here_?" I ask amazed as I get out.

"Yep, sweet isn't it?" A familiar smooth deep voice says, with a hint of playfulness. I look up and see Zeke standing there with a grin plastered to his face, holding a red solo cup. His hair isn't messy and he's wearing dark blue jeans and a black shirt. "Well you look nice," I say, he doesn't look or smell drunk, weird. "And you look, prettier," He says back, then his eyes find Shauna and widen a bit. He doesn't say anything, but his lips move to say what I think was 'wow'. I smile and watch as the girls get out, Chrissy's hair doesn't look as bad as she thinks, and the colors faded a bit. "Hi Zeke," Shauna says shyly,

"Can I just, hug you? Please? You're so beautiful," Shauna laughs a little at him and nods. She steps towards him and he sets his cup down and hugs her. "Zeke, where the hell did you go?" Uriah's voice rang out as he walked to the porch. He looked at us, then at Zeke and smiled this smile that would probably hurt. "Zeke, you said you would let me be your wingman. What happened?" He says the last part in a pout. Zeke breaks from the hug and glares at Uriah, who just sniggers and gestures to the house. "You coming in or not?"

"Yeah yeah shut up we're coming," I say and make my way towards him and the girls follow. I notice Uriah has his arm around Marlenes shoulders as he shows her the punch bowl which is long spiked. Zeke and Shauna are talking and laughing in the kitchen, Molly is off somewhere, and Eric is no where to be found. Lauren is off on the dance floor in front of the blasting speakers of the D-J, getting a lot of hungry looks from men, and a few women. So that leaves me with Christina, who is blushing and looking at me, "What's wrong Chrissy?"

"Maybe we shouldn't have come," she says shyly,

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're backing out when you dragged me here in the first place," I smile at her and link our arms, "Loosen up, lets go and see if they set up a game of beer pong in the back yard,"

"I like that game," she mumbles,

"Yeah, you up to challenging me?" she stops and scoffs at me, smiling and saying "Oh please Tris, back in high school? I was a legen wait for it dary beer pong player," I laugh at her use of language from one of my favorite shows, "So is that a yes?"

"Depends, will you be able to hold it in if you don't miss?" I laugh again and she grins at me as we walk to the back yard. There are tiki torches set up in a path to the bonfire, off to the side is a bar and jacuzzi, a few meters down the way is the pool. There are people laughing and drinking, dancing to a different kind of music, giving off an electric feel that was coming from the bar. I smile and walk closer to the bar and see a crowd around people spinning fire, and the pong table off to the side with another small crowd. I smile again and drag her over to the table. "We get next game!" I yell over the cheering, and see one guy get drunk off his ass so much he had to quit, the other guy though, not much better. Everyone has a good time and I finish off my fruity spiked smoothie that Christina got us while we watched. I walked over and gave her the ball, "Ladies first,"

"Ah huh thats right Trissy, I'm the lady here," she taunts and smiles, then she does this little hop and gets the ball in first try. An 'oohhh' comes from the crowd and I giggle as she downs the cup in a second. She gets a little too confident because she tries curving it, a trick only I can do, and misses completely. We laugh and cheer, and I toss it, bouncing it real high getting it in the first cup. I cheer with the crowd and chug it as fast as I can, setting it on the ground when I'm done. The game continues for a few more minutes until we both have one cup we can't get, both in the middle. "Okay, Okay, Christina," I pause for a moment, "Lets make a bargain,"

"What do you offer?" She asks in a posh accent, I giggle at her.

"If I make this, you are letting me pick out clothes for you when we go shopping," I say and she smirks "And you have to wear them!" I quickly add. She smirks wider "Okay Trissy poo, I'll take it up _if_ you make it, but if _I_ make it, I get to play cupid and get you some, rather than Lauren," A chorus of 'oohs' play through the crowd, "Seal it on a double pong?" I offer,

"Seal it baby!" She squeals and gets another ball from someone, "Three," I say.

"Twooo,"

"One!" The crowd yells in unison and time slows as I toss the ball for the cup, Christina does it under hand. Hers bounces and mine scores before hers does, time comes back right as my voice finds me "Shit," I curse. She squeals and starts doing this little dance and I just laugh at her. Well, now I guess it's official, Christina is a legendary beer pong player, and she keeps her word too, God she's gonna give me hell for a boyfriend.

**A/n: Hello! I am a terrible person for not posting. Okay! Caleb just never clicked with me as a straight guy, sorry if you all don't really like it, but what about Jason? (ahem the serial killer) By the way, if there are any errors pleaaaase point them out, oohh or if you have any ideas for the chapters after six and maybe seven feel free to say! c: and thank you for reading. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n: I am so sorry for not updating, I feel kinda bad, but I'd like to say I own nothing, divergent and it's chars belong to VR, but Jason is mine. By the way, I'm basing the Characters off the book, not the actors, so please, I'd like it if I wasn't bad mouthed because of something I put up for people to enjoy. As always, this is a high T because of language, and themes. And as for fluff! I will put it in for later chapters! Thank you for the wonderful ideas, and DJNova, I tried, hope you like! c:**

So far, I've danced with 5 strangers, most of which were too drunk to even stand. I know that it's a party, but it's only midnight and a lot of people are already passed out on the floors and couches. Of course, I'm not one to bad mouth on people who drink as well, I will admit by now that I may be a bit tipsy. I've stuck to my rule of sipping on one drink after the game with Christina, who I might add, I have not seen since. I smiled to myself as the base dropped softly every once and a while, and thank God I could still understand what people were saying. I realize now that no one here is sober anymore, great. I sit on the counter to the island in the kitchen and sip on my solo cup punch. Watching everyone dance and laugh, a few people making out on the couch or in corners, I spot Lauren and Four dancing. Well, more of Lauren grinding herself against him. Now when I said go for it, I didn't mean like that, stuff like that turns a guy off if its a first date. Plus you're at a party, a place to have fun and get drunk not grind against him relentlessly.

I should probably cut her some slack though, because she's smiling in that giddy way, and her cheeks are flushed red, to put it simply, she's really drunk. They both are, which is why they continue their little dance in front of other people. I watch as his hands move to her hips and he nuzzles his face into her hair and neck. I sigh and shake my head and notice a girl sit at a bar stool next to me, I give her this look and she pours a shot, "Want one?" I shrug and she pours me one, then hands it to me. "Ever had a shot of tequila before?" I down it and squeeze my eyes shut as the burning washes down my throat and to my stomach, I shake my head to her question and bite my lip to keep from coughing. She smiles and downs it no problem, I stare at her, she looks familiar, with her dark eyes and pale skin, "Do," My voice is raspy, "Do I know you?" She raises a pierced eyebrow and smiles at me, "You're Tris right?"

"Yeah,"

"Then you know my sister," she has a buzzed head with dirty blonde hair, and her face is smooth but sharp. I squint and she smiles more, "I'm Lynn," She holds out her hand and I take it, seeing that she's not wearing a dress, but jeans and a navy crop top. "Are you going to the college?" she asks

"Yeah along with some other friends,"

"Maybe I'll see you around then," she says confidently, I smile at her as she solutes me and starts walking away. My eyes follow her and soon catch Four whispering to Lauren. He takes her hand and she nods, then they walk from the dance floor and to the stairs. So my friends all get screwed and I'm still sitting here, I think I should be done and leave. Ah but I'm drunk, damn, no car. I hop down from the counter and walk to the door, to be stopped by someone grabbing my wrist. I turn and see the face of Will, he looks worried, "Christina," I feel my eyes widen and let him pull me towards the basement, where there is a game room and couch, the Christina is laying on.

She.

Looks.

Like.

Crap.

I sigh and walk over to her, and take her hand, "Will are you sober?" he shakes his head quickly, "Tris?" Christina groans,

"Yeah honey, I'm right here, what is it?" She squeezes my hand

"I wanna go home," her eyes are closed and her face is screwed in pain,

"Chrissy what happened?" she shakes her head at me and I look at Will, who is inwardly panicking, "Will, what happened?"

"She had something to drink and got in a fight," I look at him then at her and check her head, it has a red area with a scrape and a little bit of blood. I bite my lip and tell him to watch her, I take off my shoes and run upstairs to get the first aid, I bump into a couple on the way and the guy dumps his drink on me on accident. At this point I really don't care, I weave through the crowd and see a couple making out in the bathroom. I scowl and get the kit and the girl hissed at me "Get the fuck out!"

"Shut the fuck up!" I mimic, and walk out, slamming the door behind me. Going back downstairs I see that Uriah and Marlene have joined us. Moving past them I clean Chrissy up and wrap her head with some ice. Zeke comes downstairs and sees all of this "Woah, what happened?"

"Fight," I say simply as Christina falls asleep, Zeke makes a small 'o' with his mouth. "Where's everyone else?" I ask,

"Shaunas getting some water for us, Molly and Eric left the party a while ago, and Four and Lauren are upstairs so…" I sigh, sucks being the responsible one. "Tris you need to have a drink and loosen up," Zeke says to me. I walk upstairs and grab the half full bottle of tequila that Lynn and I drank, then trudge downstairs again. Everyone but Will walks back upstairs to continue the party and before I know it, the bottle in my hand is empty and my eyes sting. So I close them.

I wake up to something hitting my head and groan as it sends shocks of pain through my body. I open my eyes and stare at a beige wall with a flat screen T.V. I crane my neck and look up to see Christina's hand resting softly on my forehead. I sit up and knock a bottle over making a loud pang echo through the room, I see Chrissy on a couch with a bag of water near her head. I get up silently and slowly, as my headache is killing the crap out of me. I walk towards the stairs and move up them silently, seeing a mess of a kitchen and silence of people crashing on the floor and couches. I sigh and walk to the front door opening it silently but hitting someone. Who grunts at me. I walk out and close it, then make my way to Laurens car to get my jacket. Then events of last night and everything hit me in the face, making my ears ring. I bring a hand to my forehead and sink to the steps of the porch.

I hear someone sigh and say "Shouldn't have had that bottle eh?" I shake my head and say quietly, "Zeke told me to loosen up, so I did,"

"Yeah, listening to him isn't always the best idea," I filter the voice and know that its deep and gruff.

"Yeah, and how would you know?"

"I'm his best friend," it's Four, what the hell is he doing up?

"Shouldn't you be with Lauren?" I don't bother looking at him, knowing he did one of my best friends.

"She was more of a one night stand," I tense up,

"Really? I give her confidence to dance with you and you don't have the decency to even try to go out with her?"

"I don't do girlfriends," he says lowly,

"Why? Because you're too much of an ass to stay with them? I didn't take you as a player Four," I growl, what's wrong with him? Lauren is the hottest girl I know, and he uses her?

"No, because I end up hurting them," He says sternly, I turn to look at him and glare at him.

"So you stick to the bad boy type and crush any girl that may legitimately want to get to know you?"

"She didn't want to get to know me, you can tell with girls like her-"

"Girls like her?" I repeat venomously,

"Her and her friends,"

"So now you're calling Christina and everyone a slut?" I say simply and lowly, he looks shocked for a moment, "Stop putting words in my mouth, I never said that,"

"But you intended it," I fire back,

"No I never called you a slut,"

"But you thought about it, and not me directly but my group of friends," He lost this, and he knows it.

"You're so fucking difficult Tris," he glares at me before shaking his head and looking away from me. I sit on the porch in the cold, with Four, the guy who used my friend for a one night stand when she has a crush on him. Not only that but he called her a slut when she looked stunning and absolutely beautiful. After a while Four sighs and says "I'm sorry," I let my shoulders slump,

"Don't say it to me, say it to Lauren, she begged me to help set you two up,"

"How? You didn't exactly help introduce us,"

"Remember the melt down I had yesterday when we all met you?"

"Yeah, you went bat shit,"

"I don't click with people like Christina and Will, so that's what I do. I get people to hate me for the benefit of my friends,"

"That's sucky and unfair, don't you want a boyfriend?"

"I'm happy if my friends are, besides, I don't get attention from guys in the first place, so I don't see how I'd get one," Four didn't say anything after that. For a while we stayed quiet, but I got up and looked at him asking "Are you coming inside?"

"Yeah in a few," I nod and leave the door unlocked, then I check the time and see that it's close to 10:30, something clicks and I curse moving quickly and silently back to the door. Apparently Four was walking inside because when I opened the door in a panic it slammed into him and he cursed loudly. "What the fuck Tris?" he groaned,

"Fuck, I'm so sorry Four, oh my God, let me get you some ice," I say and run to the freezer, he's making his way into a bar stool when I turn around. I give him the ice and he puts it above his eye, "I'm so sorry Four, I didn't know," I apologise, I'm such a friggin' clutz. "Tris, it's fine, I'm an ass right? So I deserve it,"

"No I opened the door too quickly, I was running late to meet my brother for brunch,"

"Tris," He looks at me seriously, "It's fine," I look at him and nod, he smiles at me. I don't get how we can be in a heated argument about him calling my friends and I sluts one minute, and the next I'm apologising to him because I it him with a door, and now he's smiling at me. I look at him for another moment, then I do something stupid but bold and wrap my arms around his neck gently. He tenses up and puts the ice down. I feel like I've done something wrong because he hasn't done anything for almost a minute, so I pull away. I let go of him completely and take a step back when he catches my wrist, and pulls me close to him again. He snakes his arms around my small waist and puts his forehead to my shoulder, I slide my hands back up his back lightly and hold him. He loosens his grip on me and looks at me, "You should go and see your brother, Tris," I step out of his arms and past him,

"Four, do me a favor?" I ask as I slip my heels back on,

"Yes?"

"You should be nice more often, it works better for you," I say and open the door,

"See you around?" He asks,

"Maybe, if this is more than a one time thing," I tease and smile, walking out and closing it behind me. I unlock and open the door to Laurens car then slip in carefully. Turning the ignition and starting the engine, I pull out of the driveway and drive back to my apartment. Taking a five minute shower and brushing the foul taste from my mouth, then changing into blue jeans that aren't too tight and a white tank top, then throwing on a grey knitted sweat shirt that falls off one shoulder. Then slipping on my converse and checking the time, 10:42, I'll be late, whatever. Caleb can complain all he wants, thats why Jason said brunch, meaning breakfast-lunch. For late risers, like me! I hop back in Laurens car and drive for 10 minutes into downtown and pull into the parking lot to the hotel.

It's pretty nice, I walk into the lobby and smile at the assistant person, I walk up to him and say "Hello,"

"How can I help you Miss?"

"Uhm, I'm looking for my brother, I believe this is the hotel he's staying at," I look at the marble floors and fine dark wood posts that carve neatly into the ceiling. He smiles at me and types into his computer, "And his name Miss?"

"Prior, Caleb Prior," He types a bit before smiling,

"Ah yes, fourth floor, to the right room 426, may I ask who you are?"

"I'm his sister, we were going to brunch today,"

"Well then here is the room key so you can get in, have a nice day Miss Prior," He smiles and hands me the card, I smile back and take it, then hop into the elevator. Clicking four and smiling, I won't lie, I'm excited to see my brother and hear how he's doing, and it's nice to see Jason again, he's about a year older than me, and two months older than Caleb. The door dings and I step out and head to the right, as anything under 50 would be that way. I walk past 427 and end up at 426. I slide in the card and open the door, walking in and seeing Caleb with his back pressed to the counter of the kitchen, and Jason holding his shoulders kissing him roughly. I bite my lip and blush, then push the door closed loudly, Caleb jumps and breaks off, turning around and spotting me. "B-Beatrice! What are you doing here?!" His face flushes red, and Jason chuckles, rubbing the back of his head. "Brunch, remember?" I say quietly,

"You're late," Jason says stifling a laugh,

"It's nice to know you two get along in the mean time then," I say with a big smile, Caleb blushes enough to put a tomato to shame and Jason kisses his shoulder softly. "You guys still up for it? I can come back," I say and gesture to the door, Caleb sighs and struts past me to the room, I give Jason a look and grin, he smiles back and laughs. "Sorry about that Tris,"

"No no, I'm sorry for interrupting," I put my hands up in surrender and Jason leans on the counter, "So how was the party?" he asks,

"Uh, I got pretty drunk, but everyone got laid but me," I say simply, he sighs and shakes his head, "Don't worry Tris, there are guys out there, they just can't see past the rotten apples because they're too lazy to climb the tree for the best ones," I smile and nod,

"Thank you,"

"Of course,"

"So, can I ask a question?"

"Sure,"

"Who's uh, the pants in this?" come on, we're all wanting to know,

"Jason," Caleb walks back in and pouts,

"Yes?" he asks and glances at him,

"I can't find my tie," I stifle a laugh,

"Caleb, it's brunch, you don't need a tie," Jason says softly,

"But,"

"Hurry up and get ready, we can't have your sister forever, I'm sure she has better things to do," I nod reassuringly, I need to pick up the girls and get them ready for tomorrow morning with work and school just around the corner. Plus, gossip, and that takes hours. Before I know it, Caleb and Jason are ready to go, we all pile into Calebs car, a lexus I might add, and drive off to ihop.


	7. Chapter 7

Four pov

I sit still, watching the door and waiting for her to forget something, to come back, 'be nice' huh? I wait about five minutes and get up, throwing the ice bag in the sink, then trudging upstairs, to a sleeping girl, who has the best friend anyone could ask for. I open the door and see her curled up on her side, with the white sheets clinging to her curvy figure. I sigh and sit on the edge of the bed to nudge her shoulder. She wakes up after a few moments and her hazel eyes find mine, she smiles a little "Morning," she grumbles and rubs her eyes. I get up and hand her my jacket, seeing as she's naked. She sits up and smiles more, "Hey Four, what did I do to wake up to your handsome face?"

"Me, apparently, last night," I say a bit coldly, I inwardly sigh as she looks at me confused, be nice Four, "We were both wasted," she looks down and her dark hair slides across her bare slightly tanned shoulders. She mumbles so soft I almost missed it, "So I'm a one night stand?" I nod slowly,

"I'm sorry, you are beautiful, and you're a really fun person to hang out with," she nods slowly, being careful not to show her face, shit, I made her cry. _This is why I bail out Tris!_ I yell in my head. "I'll see you around then?" she mumbles as she gets up and starts getting redressed, she has her heels on when I remember, "Uh, Lauren," She looks at me as I get to my feet, "Tris took your car," she sighs and nods looking away,

"Yeah, I expected her to."

"I could drive you home if you want," I offer to her, she looks up at me again and smiles sadly. "We have to wake everyone up though, so you can all go home and we can fix this place up," I say before she does anything. I walk out of the room and track down Zeke, crashing in the beanbag chair, holding Shauna. I flick him in the forehead, hard and he jerks awake. "Argh, Four, what the hell?" he whisper yells at me, I smirk and say back quietly "We need to take the girls home."

"Since when have you cared?" He growls at me, "God what time is it even?"

"Close to 11," I say dully, he stares at the ceiling for a moment then smiles and chuckles, "Shit Four,"

"What?"

"Who ever you screwed sure had an impact on you," he grins wider,

"I didn't screw her," Zeke shoots up and stares at me,

"I saw you walking up with Lauren. Are you telling me she gave you the bird? What the actual fuck Four?"

"No Zeke," I shake my head "Yes I got laid, but not with who I'm talking about,"

"Then who the fuck is this girl?" I glare at him,

"Tris," He stares at me for a moment, before his face cracks into his signature ear to ear grin. "You and little miss Tris huh?"

"What?"

"I didn't think you had it in you," He says looking back at the ceiling,

"What?" I ask again,

"Two at once? Fuck that must have been hot," I slap my forehead and groan,

"Zeke, I didn't do Tris,"

"So only Lauren did? Oh shit! You scored!" He's getting way too excited for this,

"Pedrad," I say firmly

"Yes Four dearest?"

"Tris didn't get laid last night, not from me or Lauren, she talked to me this morning, before she left,"

"Mmmhmm, 'talked'," he smirks and I scoff,

"Really Zeke?" He nods, "We can't even be in the same room together without getting into an argument."

"So how did she make you all caring and shit?" He quirks an eyebrow at me,

"She said 'be nice more often, it works better for you'," I say lowly,

"Oh shit," Zeke stares at me wide eyed,

"What?"

"She's got a thing for you," he states,

"What?" smart Four, "No, there's no way, she slammed a door into my eye, and we bad mouthed each other,"

"So then why are you making a big deal out of this for her?" he asks genuinely, I sit there for a moment, racking my mind for an answer that makes sense, all I come up with is "She asked me to, as a favor," Zeke stares at me and shakes his head smiling,

"You Four, are in deep," he says thoughtfully,

"Am not."

"It's possible," Zeke fires,

"I met her a few days ago," I retort,

"And the next thing you know it'll be a few weeks, then months, by then you'll have at least kissed her," He says matter-of-factly.

"Why do I have to be the one to kiss her!?" Shauna stirs and I lower my voice,

"Because, you're changing your attitude for some girl over a favor," I sigh,

"We could just be friends," I say under my breath,

"I doubt it, Tris is like a white tiger in the rainforest, get her before she disappears from you, ensnare her," He says wisely, when did Zeke become a wise guy?

"She told me she doesn't do boyfriends," I say quietly, actually she said she wouldn't get the eyes of guys, not that she didn't want a boyfriend. Zeke smiles again and announces "There, see, you already have stuff in common, get her Four," I look at him, "How can I get a girl who can't stand to be in the same room as me for more than five minutes?" Zeke pauses for a moment and shakes Shauna awake, "Let her get you then," He says as Shauna yawns. She rubs her eyes and looks at him, "Hey Zeke,"

"Good morning princess," she smiles weakly at this, I nod and get up to wake up Christina and William. I find them on the couch, with Christinas face nuzzled in Wills neck with his chin atop her head. She's in his lap and his hands are low on her hips, I almost feel bad to wake them up. But I do it anyway because they need to go home. I shake Chrissy's shoulder quickly and she squirms groaning in complaint, "Christina, wake up, you need to go home," I say softly, she clutches Wills shirt and struggles to get in a comfortable position, Will hums and keeps her in one spot. I stifle a laugh, I feel, so bad for him, he opens his eyes and sees Christina and all of her curvyness in his lap, straddling him currently. He glances at me and smirks pointing at her silently asking 'are you seeing this?' I nod and grin. Will places a trail of kisses down from her ear to her shoulder and she groans quietly, he whispers "Christina, you need to get up,"

"I don't wanna, you're warm," Will chuckles and kisses her collar, she runs her fingers through his messy blonde hair and I take my leave, smiling at how cute they are. I go back to Zeke, who is pointing to the bathroom for Shauna, "Hey where's Uri?" Zeke asks me, I shrug and point at the ceiling as a gesture to up stairs. I sigh and stumble towards the steps marching up them again, seeing Lauren on a stool at the island, talking to Uriah while the fantastic smell of pancakes floats through the house. Most of the guests from the party are gone, but friends stayed for a while before leaving, Marlene, is a great cook.

After everyone is done I go to Lauren "Ready?"

"Sure, to my house, I think Tris can bring me my stuff later," she seems distant, but I decide against asking her. I walk towards the front door and let her go first, then I lead her down the driveway and across the street to my black Dodge Charger. I open the passenger door for her and close it, then walk to my side and get in, I turn the ignition and as I shift out of park I hear a tap on my window. I look and see Zeke with Shauna, I roll down the window "Heyy, Four, can we get a ride?" I look down and unlock the doors then get out and push my seat forward after shifting back into park. Shauna climbs in holding her shoes and Zeke follows. We start driving and Lauren flips on the radio plays Eyes Wide Open by Gotye. Getting on the highway lauren tells me to get off two exits later, and we drive for a few more minutes. Turns out, her parents are actors, and she's pretty loaded. We drop Shauna off a few streets down near the high school.

We start driving back when Zeke complains to me "Fouuuuuuuuurr," And slumps in the seat next to me.

"Yes Zeke?" I pull up to a red light.

"I'm still hungry," he pouts and rubs his stomach.

"Seriously?" I give him a look.

"Yeah!" He grins, "IHop?" I sigh and press on the gas at green and make a quick left, taking the back streets, he squeals as girly as it gets and yells "Thankyouthankyouthankyou Four! You're the best!" HE tries to hug me in the parking lot as I pull in but I put my hand on his face, "Okay you're welcome," I open the door and he sprints in, scaring the crap out of the girl at the desk, I laugh as she puts a hand on her chest and stares at him. "Okay ah, table for two please," I say after I've calmed down. She smiles and nods at me, "Right this way," Zeke and I follow her, but he glances at me sticking out his tongue and making a phone with his hand, I look at him, then past him and see that she's shaking her hips a bit. I grin and roll my eyes as he makes little dancing movements behind her back, she turns a few times and he resumes his normal posture for walking, but as soon as she turns around again he's jumping like a toddler and screwing around. She sets the table up next to the window and smiles, "I'm Harley here's my number" she bends over and writes it down on a napkin, effectively showing off her boobs, "Your waitress will be with you in a moment," she smiles, gives us our menus and we nod our thanks.

When she's out of earshot Zeke cracks up and holds his stomach and I laugh with him, "Oh, oh my God," He says and keeps laughing, I calm down and sigh, chuckling a few times, "Jeez Zeke."

"Oh shut up, you know you loved it," I nod and he looks through the food, another waitress comes by, she's pretty and willowy, but she is wearing her uniform normally with a pen behind her ear, her crimson ponytail straight down her back. Her eyes are a nice hazel color "Hello, I'm Sam, I'll be your waitress today," She pulls out a notepad and a pen and her eyes find the number, she smiles and giggles a little, "I hope Harley didn't give you too much trouble," Zeke laughs and I grin widely,

"Define trouble," She smiles at me,

"I hope that you didn't flirt back with her," Zeke makes an 'oooh' sound,

"I'm very picky Sam," I smile at her and she blushes,

"Do you have room for suggestion?" She asks me, Zeke looks at me with the biggest smile ever,

"Maybe, depends on how sweet it might be," I give her a boyish smirk that most girls would drop for and she smiles back, "It's pretty sweet, depends on how much you can take though," she adds the last part with confidence,

"I like a challenge every once and a while," she raises an eyebrow,

"Well then, Sun Diego French Toast, get it, and I will race you on how fast you can eat it," Zeke smiles at me and I hold out my hand to her, she takes it and shakes it, "If I beat you, you give me your number and we meet up sometime," she says to me,

"And if I win, our meals are on the house," She smiles,

"Deal," then she turns to Zeke, "What can I get for you?"

"Full stack of chocolate chip pancakes and two sunny side up eggs with bacon,"

"Ah huh, anything to drink?" She asks while writing everything down,

"Shots?" He asks enthusiastically, Sam laughs at him,

"Uhm no," she raises an eyebrow,

"Damn, then I am good," he sighs and smiles. She nods and puts her note pad away and the pen too, "Then I will be back with your food in about 15 minutes," Then she walks off towards the kitchen, Zeke gives me this look. "What?" I ask,

"What happened to Tris?"


	8. Chapter 8

Tris pov

Jason opens the glass door for us and I walk to the girl at the desk, she's writing something in a binder and it takes a while for her to notice me, she looks up when I tap the desk with my nail. She glares for a second but hides it with a false smile "Hi, welcome to Ihop how many?"

"Just three," I say and she nods and jots down the details,

"Inside or outside?" She asks looking up,

"Uh," I look back to the boys and at the sky behind them, it looks grey and stormy, "Inside please," I say to her. She nods and grabs our menus, gesturing for us to follow her. She sways her hips with each step and some of the taken guys from tables she's passing keep staring, earning a scolding from their girlfriends. We got situated at a corner booth, I caught her name tag under her curly black hair. "Thank you Harley," I said softly.

"Your waiter will be with you in a moment," she said dully and walked away. Caleb and Jason gave eachother a look. We sniggered to each other and started looking through the menus. I finished first and set it down, checking the time on my phone,we've been waiting for 10 minutes. I stood up "I'll be right back," I say and walk back to the front, Harley was flirting with a boy from the staff, when he saw me his eyes widened a bit and he nodded his goodbye to her. She turned with an annoyed look on her face, "What?" she asked,

"Hi," I said awkwardly, "Uh, can I have one of the kids menus?" I pointed to them behind her,

"What are you? Twelve?" She scoffed and got me one,

"No, I'm eighteen, and very very bored, because your service here sucks, we've been waiting close to ten minutes, and I'd like to occupy myself to keep from leaving and you loosing a customer," I say confident, I won't lie, she was pissing me off. She frowned at me and I gave her a fake preppy smile then spun on heel and walked back. Jason and Caleb were smiling about something and talking quietly, I sat back down and organized my crayons. "So," Caleb started "What took you so long?"

"She was flirting with some guy and I wanted to draw because I'm bored," I say not looking up, Caleb grabs the blue one and draws an 'x' in one of the corners of the tic-tak-toe game. I smile and draw a circle in the middle, long story short, he won, all seven games. I'm groaning and giggling when a guy about my age walks up to the side of the table, I look up and meet dark chocolate eyes. He's tall, and like a mountain, big, but not gross, built. He has shaggy brown hair that falls in front of his eyes, and he's pale, but everything about him looks strong. "Hi," He says lowly, he's the boy who was talking to Harley.

"We're ready to order," I say a bit harsh, Caleb gives me a look,

"Oh, uhm, my name's Al, I'll be taking your orders today," He fumbled with his notepad, I looked at his tag, 'NEWBIE' oohhh. I sighed and he blushed from embarrassment "Slow down, it's fine," Jason said kindly, Al shot him a grateful look. He readied his pen and glanced at us, "A glass of oj and an omelet please, with a side of toast," Caleb says softly.

"I'll have the buttermilk waffles with bacon and hash brown and waters good for me," Jason says organizing the menus. "I'll have a blt on sourdough to-go, and a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, with toast as well," I say looking at him. He nods, "Oh, and a hot chocolate please, extra cream on top," I say childishly. He smiles a little and finishes, then he takes our menus and leaves. Jason smiles at me, I narrow my eyes at him. "He's cute," He says playfully, I laugh rather loudly.

"Wh-What?" I get out, holding my stomach as the air rushes out,

"He kept looking at you," He puts his elbows on the table and laces his fingers together, raising his eyebrows. He looks like a detective giving me an interview. "Yeah, so what?"

"You have a secret admirer," He says.

"Oh please, he was flirting up a storm with ex-secretary girl."

"I don't know, he seems like a good boy for you," he shrugs and puts his arm around Caleb's shoulder,

"He works here, and I don't even know him," I say wrinkling my nose a bit,

"You say that now," Jason plays,

"Ask for his number Beatrice, if he's not for you then he could be a friend," Caleb says, typing something into his phone. Not my brother too, I sigh and give in, "Fine, when he comes back I'll give him mine," Caleb smiles a proud one and Jason grins showing his perfect teeth, "So, Tris, how's life?" I giggle at him, "Uh, it's okay so far, a bit bumpy recently, but as you know Christina and I moved in together, and she's going to school to be a bartender," I say and smile.

"Well what about you?" Caleb asks,

"I'm looking for a job actually," I say doodling on the paper,

"Are you attending the local college?" Him and school I swear,

"No, but I'm thinking about it, there were some boy's that moved in a few blocks from us, they're college students."

"Ohh! Are they cute?" Jason smiles and buts in, Caleb looks at him in shock and mock hurt, he pouts and pats his heart, I can't help but laugh as Jason tries to reassure him. I calm down a bit but giggle "Yeah, they're not hard on the eyes," Jason raises an eyebrow,

"Anyone catching your eye?" I stop and think, the first face that pops into mind is Four, but looks is all he's really got going for him, so far he has the crappiest attitude ever. But maybe he'd let me say he's my crush, I'm sure he wouldn't mind, he's already got so many other girls. But then again, I don't really like him or have a crush on him, "No," I say softly shaking my head a little "There's no one of interest," Jason frowns,

"Tris, are you a lesbian?" Caleb and I crack up, but he manages to get out "You don't… know how many times… she's… been asked that," Caleb and I calm down as soon as the food arrives. He sets the plates down as if they'll break, he sets the mug of chocolatey goodness in front of me and I immediately reach for it. Someones rough hand touches mine and holds it to the table before I can, I look up and see Al blushing "C-Careful, it's very hot," I nod slowly and he hesitantly removes his hand. He nods his head and walks back to where he came from.

I see Jason give me a look from the corner of my eye and shrug it off. Of course, I'm an idiot and I sip on my cocoa and burn my tongue making me yelp. Caleb laughs and Jason shakes his head at me. We eat in a comfortable almost silence, occasional jokes being tossed across the table, talking about music and the entertainment industry. By the time we're all done I have covered the blank back side of the kids menu in different colored doodles. Al comes back and asks if we need any boxes and I shake my head, Caleb and Jason look at me expectantly, I look at Al with the nicest smile I can handle at the moment and say "Uh, hi, I'm Tris," He looks at me a moment before smiling,

"Would you like to talk to me in a few at the back?" He asks, I glance at Jason, who's grinning.

"Yeah, sure. That'd be nice," What, in the world, am I doing? He smiles and nods at me, setting the bill on the table and clearing plates. After a fight over who's paying Jason ends up doing so, being a gentleman and an ass at the same time. We rise and Caleb beams at me, I give him this weird look but he's contagious like Christina, so I end up smiling too. I glare at the desk girl Harley and she scoffs back, I wanna Sashay out, but that would be rude. Plus when you're flat both ways it doesn't help. So we just leave, we're halfway to the car when Jason stops and gives me a pointed look, I groan and turn on heel, walking to the back of the restaurant. Al is already there, out of uniform. I'll give him credit he looks much nicer in his normal attire. "Hey, Tris," He notices me before I can do anything. I wave sorta awkwardly and smile, "So what's up?" I ask, brilliant Tris.

"Well, I just met you and, I'd like to get to know you?" He says it like a question, like I'll reject him first chance I get, and I would have. If Jason wasn't a prissy girl. "You realize this isn't how normal people meet right?" I say amused. He chuckles and looks at his feet,

"Yeah that's making this really difficult," he mumbled shyly,

"Well, where do you usually hang out? Maybe we can make some chance around to meet again, and exchange numbers?" I offer, even if its ridiculous. He looks up at me and smiles, "Yeah, that sounds nice. I'm usually at the mall, in the software store. I fix computers," He explains, I nod.

"Then we'll see each other sooner or later because my best friend loves shopping."

"Cool, I gotta get back to work," he points to the door behind him,

"Part time?"

"Yeah, for college tuition," I make a small 'o' with my mouth then nod.

"In electronics?"

"You guessed it," he smiles, I nod and wave once,

"See you around Al," I start to turn and walk away,

"Bye Tris," I hear the door open and close as I round the corner. Caleb and Jason are against the car talking, I strut up to them and Caleb smiles at me. "Not cool bro," I send a playful glare at him and he smiles wider. "So," Jason looks at me, "Numbers?"

"Well since you scared him off we're going to meet at the mall to try again," Jason laughs and we soon join him, Caleb runs a hand through his hair and calms down saying "Well hello," Jacey and I follow his gaze and see two boys. I crease my eyebrows and squint, Four and Zeke? "Heeyy," Jason frowns and slaps Calebs arm with the back of his hand. I bring my hands to my mouth and yell, "Heeyyyy! Four!" He stops in his tracks and looks around, I giggle a little, stupid. Zeke is the first to see me waving and punches Fours shoulder. He looks over and I swear the biggest smile finds his face.

They make their way over and Four tenses up when he sees Caleb and Jason up close, "Trissy!" Zeke hugs me waaaay too tight, "Air!" I squeek and he lets me go,

"Trissy?" Caleb asks,

"Caleb this is Zeke and Four, the new neighbors I was telling you about," I point to them,

"Ohh!" Jason gasps, "You're the hot college boys!" I feel my face get hot,

"Jason!" I yell,

"You think I'm hot Tris?" Four asks while Zeke strikes a pose, I don't know if it's possible but I blush more. "Uh," I stutter "Well, I d-didn't say you weren't, uhm," his grin only grows until Jason puts his arm on my shoulders, I notice Caleb is sitting on the trunk. "So who are they?" Four asks sending them both a glare. Jason puts a hand on his chest in mock hurt, "Four, this is Jason, my old friend, and my brothers boyfriend," I gesture to Caleb, who is working on a secret handshake with Zeke. Four nods, and looks at me, then it hits me when I see the faded bruise above his eye. "Did Lauren get home okay?"

"Yeah, Christina went home with William, and Zeke has a new girlfriend," Four puts his hands in his pockets, is he nervous?

"Shauna?" I guess, he nods and I can't help but smile, "What about Marmar and Uri?"

"They were still at the house when we left," Jason whistles,

"Wow Tris making friends without me? Cute ones too? Uhg I can not believe you!" I smirk and he pouts, "Four how's your face?"

"Better now, thanks," He says a bit harsh, I bite my tongue to not be that way back. Jason squishes me into his chest "Come on, lets go back to the hotel eh?" his chest makes a rumbly sound when he speaks. "Yeah I'm ready to go home, and I'm sure Caleb wants to finish that session you two were having," I look up at the somewhat scratchy face of Jace and see the tips of his ears a bit pink. I grin and giggle, victory. My eyes find Four and Zeke, who has stopped being childish with my brother, "See you soon guys," I say and unlock the car, I get into the drivers seat and turn the engine, they stand back while Jason and Caleb get in. I see Zeke say something to Four, earning a punch in the arm, and Zeke rubbing it like he did it hard. On the way driving home Jason smirks and says "So, that Four guy seemed like good eye candy."

"Yep," I say keeping my eyes on the road,

"You and him gonna be a thing because the flirt level was off the chart."

"Jason!"

"What? He looks good for you, that Al person can shove it and be a friend, I personally would like some sugar from number boy."

"Jason!" Caleb yells, I send a glare his way at a red light and say "Jason Deshaun Blaqlav. You're worse than Christina."

**A/n: I'm sorry I haven't updated this in a while, but it was my birthday and people are being annoying so I didn't have time to do much, but! I needs new ideas, I have one for the later, like, way later chapters but need your help. Please? Ideas? :p and Fluff is soon!**


	9. I am not dead! Just extremely busy!

The number one reason as to why I don't go to parties like this, is alcohol. It's what's making Christina growl at me like a rabid dog. It makes you feel terrible for about two days, It is also why I probably still look like Hell, and why I feel so lazy. But, I need to suck it up, and so does Christina. Which is why Chrissy is beating a pillow that I'm using to block my face, I may or may not have used an air horn to wake her up, again. "Christina I'm sorry okay!" She finally lets up. She glares at me and huffs before falling limply back in bed, her hair is like a puff ball and messy at the moment. "Triiiisssss what do you waaaaant?" She groans into her pillow,

"I was coming to tell you I'm going out for job hunting," She makes a noise, "At the mall, so I'll just see you later?" I say while backing up to the door hoping she didn't get the last part. Sadly she bolts to her feet and lunges at me, I fall backwards and we tumble to the floor. "Cooooooffffeeeee," She moans like a zombie, I laugh rather loudly "Okay, okay," I slap my hand on her face and shove her off me. She smiles and gets to her feet and flops back into her queen sized bed. Then she groans again yelling "Shut up and get me my freaking coffee Tris!" As I kick the air horn on accident. I laugh and get to my feet grabbing my keys, "Yeah yeah, I'll get you your friggin coffee," I say and wave her off, grabbing a jacket on my way out and locking the door.

Half way there I hear a few manly yells and stop in my tracks, Zeke runs by being chased by William, I think was his name. Will was chasing Zeke down the street holding a water gun, Zeke screams like a girl when Four goes sprinting after him holding a water balloon. Zeke hurdles over bushes and slaloms through trees. He turns the corner of a house and screams, moments later Uriah walks out with a very smug look on his face as Four and Will pummel Zeke even still. I don't hold back a laugh as Four and Uri exchange a high five and Zeke stands in the background pouting. Marlene walks up to me as I'm trying to catch my breath, "Hey Tris," I look at her with the biggest smile ever. What I don't tell her, is that Zeke is right behind her. "Mar Mar!" He yells and then she gets engulfed in a hug, a big wet bear hug.

Marlene squeals and flails around a bit until Uriah comes up and squirts her with the water gun. "Uriah!" She yells, I'm just on the side lines laughing. That is until my back has a strange pressure on it and my but starts to get wet, my head whips around but someone picks me up and tosses me over their shoulder. "Oh my God! Put me down!" I yell but get spun around instead. I squeal very girly-like and laugh, after a few minutes of clutching the persons shoulders for dear life while they run around being shot by everybody, and Marlene with revenge got a bucket of water. He sets me down, out clothes now completely drenched. I giggle and grin at how ridiculous the boys can be while looking at my clothes, which are now stuck to my body. "Wow Tris," I look up and see Four standing there and grinning like a kid on christmas morning. I don't fight the surprised smirk that finds my face, "Hey Four, what's going on?"

"Zeke thought it would be fun to prank the entire building yelling 'fire' so we wanted to put it out," He says happily. We're all laughing and smiling until Uri looks me over "You're all dressed up, where are you headed?"

"I need a job," I say embarrassed,

"Tris," Marlene says, "If you needed a job you could have asked," My eyes find her own, "I know you don't really like kids, but you've always been good with them, I know a lovely woman who could use a full time nanny," A nanny? Pfff no, last time I tried to take care of a kid he screamed because I was wearing my hoodie, long story short of screaming, I ended up calling the mom in tears begging for her to come home. "Ehhh, I don't know…" I trail off,

"Where are you headed?" She asks,

"The mall, I'm also meeting someone, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone," She smiles,

"Thats great, I work at a coffee/tea shop on the way, let me get dressed and I'll go with you," She states and walks to the boys apartment. I realize everyone followed her but Four and me. He puts his hand on the small of my back making me jump a little, "Meeting someone?" I nod,

"I met him yesterday," I say quietly, he pushes me gently to start walking, "Did he arrange this?"

"No, well, actually he doesn't even know I'm gonna be there," I admit, Four gives me a funny look,

"He works there or something?"

"Yeah, with computers," I say sitting down on the front steps to the building, Four gives a curt nod.

"He's why you're all dressed up?" Why does everyone keep saying that?

"Yes, because me wearing wedges, jeans, and a red flannel shirt is me dressing up," I state nonchalantly.

"Well, you look nice, so, sorry," he says softly, looking up at the grey sky._ He's jealous._

What? No, shut up mind. "Thanks," I mumble. Four sighs and leans back, putting his elbows on the higher step behind him. "So, is he your boyfriend?"

"No! He's my talking goldfish, who happens to be really good at fixing computers." I say half sarcastic, Four glares at me, "No, he's a friend thats a guy, I just met him. Relax. It's not like you care, you're not for 'girlfriends'." I say absentmindedly. I hear someone suck in air behind me and see Marlene looking nice in a tan long sleeve and jeans. "God Tris, couldn't be more harsh could you?" She scolds, I immediately feel bad and look to Four, who already got to his feet. "See you around Tris, good luck with your interview," He says as he walks away into the building, I get to my feet as the door closes. Marlenes giving me a look while we walk the 7 blocks to the mall. "What?" I finally demand.

"I don't know why you're so, so, uh crap, what's the word..?" She trails off,

"Bossy?" I suggest, she shakes her head,

"Defyant, thats it," She snaps and smiles, "I don't know why you're so defyant around Four," I look at her in disbelief.

"You mean you haven't noticed?" I ask,

"I've noticed a few things, have you?"

"He hates me," I say. She stops dead in her tracks at the entrance to the mall and bursts out laughing. I stare at her like she stole an old guys happy pills, along with a few people leaving the mall. SHe stops suddenly and says seriously, "You can be so näive sometimes Tris."

"Huh?" Brilliant.

"Thats the oldest trick in the book, bully the girl you have a crush on," She says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. When did this happen? WHEN WAS A BOOK MADE?! I'm getting old… Marlene starts laughing again saying "You're only… Eighteen… Tris!" Of course I said it out loud.

"There's no way Four likes me," I deny,

"He's totally falling for you," _NO duh, I've been trying to tell her._ Shut up voice.

"Haaaaa… Ha..." I laugh dully. "You're funny, you should be a comedian MarMar," She kicks the back of my heel, "Ow!" I yelp.

"I'm serious Tris, he really has a thing for you," She says concerned.

"I don't see why-"

"Do you_ want_ to be slapped?" She growls, "Stop living with what kids said when you were fifteen, they were just mean. You're beautiful, and believe it or not for a long time I was jealous and became envious of you. Thinking you were full of yourself I loathed you for a while. Over time I got over it though and got to know you, you're my best friend now, and I'm sure that if you give Four that chance you gave me, you'll like him." I look at her in disbelief, tears forming in my eyes, no one's ever said that to me. Never spoke so highly of me. "Whoever this guy is, that you're coming to meet, can wait. You met Four first, so get to know him, please. It'll be worth it. I promise."

"Okay," I croak out, she looks kinda concerned so she sighs "Oh honey," and hugs me. We stand in a hug for a few moments before she pulls back and giggles looking at my face. "What?" I ask laughing a little with her,

"How are you gonna say hello to a guy if your eyes are all puffy?" She smiles and gives me some cold water from her purse, "Lets go to the little girls room and clean you up huh?" I sniffle and smile. "Yeah, thank you Marlene." She smirks and nods "Yeah yeah, just don't tell Christina you cried cause of me, I'll be 6 feet deep before dawn," I laugh at her,

"Oh Marlene?" I ask as we walk in,

"Yes?"

"You don't work for another hour, could you pick up some coffee for Chrissy? As a favor?" I rinse a paper towel as she checks her eyes for eyelashes.

"Oh yeah, don't worry about it," She says smiling at me, I smile at her and wash my face.

I wave goodbye to her as she walks back to her job. I ascend the stairs and open the glass doors to the electronics store, I look around for Al's face. When I don't find him I ask another guy named Mark, he smiles and leads me to the back room, where he yells "Al! There's a girl here for you!" I smile awkwardly and wait for about two minutes until the guy yells again "If you don't get your ass over here I'm calling dibs!" I cover my mouth to hold back a laugh. Al rushes in with an angry look on his face, but he drops it and replaces it with a smile when he sees me, "Tris," He says and glares at Mark, I bite my lip and smile. "Lunch?" He offers when Mark leaves. I nod.

He unclips his name tag and walks me out to a greek food place. "What are you doing here?" He asks as we wait for our food. "I wanted to surprise you,"I say,

"Well you did," He says as if its a finality, we sit in silence until the food arrives and make comments about the history of greece and the food, about 45 minutes later we finish. "I have a job interview to get to," I say,

"Oh? What for?"

"A nanny," I say quietly.

"You like kids?"

"Sort of, they just don't like me," I say with a small laugh.

"Well good luck on that, thanks for stopping by, it was nice to see you," He says to me,

"Yeah, thanks for lunch."

"Again sometime?" He looks hopeful,

"Sure. Call me and we can set up a date,"

"Date?" He asks. Oh, crap.

"Yeaah," I say a little higher pitch than normal,

"Great, thanks Tris," He says, and then he hugs me, by patting me on the back with one arm. Then he smiles and walks back into the store. While I'm walking to the coffee shop all I can think is 'How awkward was that?'


End file.
